Vehicle Readiness System

ABSTRACT

A vehicle readiness system includes a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive subsystem diagnostic data regarding a status of a subsystem of a vehicle, receive inventory data regarding an inventory of equipment present on the vehicle, receive inspection data regarding a condition of an inspection point on the vehicle, determine a readiness score for the vehicle based on the subsystem diagnostic data, the inventory data, and the inspection data, and transmit a readiness report based on the readiness score, the subsystem diagnostic data, the inventory data, and the inspection data to at least one of a display device of the vehicle or a user device separate from the vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/483,763, filed Apr. 10, 2017, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Traditional response vehicles include various features and systems forassisting an operator of the response vehicle in response to aninstance. For instance, if an engine component is not functioning as itshould, a “check engine” light may notify the operator. Such systems arelimited in that they lack specificity in terms of the information thatthey provide. Upon seeing such a “check engine” light, the operator isunaware of the particular aspect of the engine that is defective.Additionally, since such warning systems are completely onboard thevehicle, the operator is only notified of the vehicle's deficiency onceinside of the vehicle and attempting to operate it in urgentcircumstances. Thus, it would be beneficial to enable emergency responsepersonnel to view more information pertaining to the operational statusof the response vehicle well in advance of attempting to utilize thevehicle.

What is more, traditional systems are further limited in that theytypically only notify personal of the operational status of componentsof the vehicle itself. Due to the dangerous circumstances that responsevehicles are frequently in, the emergency response equipment within aresponse vehicle (e.g., hoses, axes, compressed air tanks, and the like)is a crucial component of the vehicles' readiness. Accordingly, it wouldbe further beneficial provide a system that informs personnel of anemergency response vehicle's readiness not only in terms of varioussubsystems of the vehicle, but also of the equipment on the vehicle.

SUMMARY

The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being carried outin various ways. Alternative exemplary embodiments relate to otherfeatures and combinations of features.

One embodiment relates to a vehicle readiness system. The vehiclereadiness system includes a processing circuit. The processing circuitis configured to receive subsystem diagnostic data regarding a status ofa subsystem of a vehicle, receive inventory data regarding an inventoryof equipment present on the vehicle, receive inspection data regarding acondition of an inspection point on the vehicle, determine a readinessscore for the vehicle based on the subsystem diagnostic data, theinventory data, and the inspection data, and transmit a readiness reportbased on the readiness score, the subsystem diagnostic data, theinventory data, and the inspection data to at least one of a displaydevice of the vehicle or a user device separate from the vehicle.

Another embodiment relates to a vehicle readiness system. The vehiclereadiness system includes database and a processing circuit. Thedatabase is configured to store an inspection instruction datasetregarding at least one of an inventory of equipment associated with avehicle or an inspection point on the vehicle. The database facilitatesaccessing the inspection instruction dataset with a user device toprovide a user with inspection instructions regarding assessing at leastone of the inventory of equipment or a condition of the inspectionpoint. The processing circuit is configured to receive subsystemdiagnostic data regarding a status of a subsystem of the vehicle,receive inspection data from the user device regarding at least one ofequipment present on the vehicle or the condition of the inspectionpoint on the vehicle, determine a readiness score for the vehicle basedon the subsystem diagnostic data and the inspection data, and generate areadiness report based on the readiness score, the subsystem diagnosticdata, and the inspection data.

Still another embodiment relates to a vehicle. The vehicle includes avehicle subsystem, a sensor, a detector, and a processing circuit. Thevehicle subsystem includes at least one of a transmission, a brakingsystem, a lighting system, a generator, a water pump system, a foamsystem, a water tank, a foam tank, a transmission system, or a tireinflation system. The sensor is configured to acquire subsystemdiagnostic data regarding a status of the vehicle subsystem. Thedetector is configured to receive signals from equipment present on thevehicle. The processing circuit is configured to receive the subsystemdiagnostic data from the sensor, receive inventory data from thedetector regarding an inventory of the equipment present on the vehicle,determine a readiness score for the vehicle based on the subsystemdiagnostic data and the inventory data, and transmit a readiness reportbased on the readiness score, the subsystem diagnostic data, and theinventory data to at least one of a display device of the vehicle or auser device separate from the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will become more fully understood from the followingdetailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingfigures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a response vehicle including variousfeatures described herein, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a vehicle management for a responsevehicle, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of an inventory tracking module ofthe vehicle management system, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a process for tracking the inventory ofvarious equipment stored on the response vehicle, according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a detailed block diagram of an inspection assistance module ofthe vehicle management system, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a process for assisting in the inspection of aresponse vehicle, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a detailed block diagram of a readiness assessment module ofthe vehicle management system, according to an exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 8 is flow chart of a process for determining the response readinessof the emergency response vehicle, according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before turning to the figures, which illustrate the exemplaryembodiments in detail, it should be understood that the presentapplication is not limited to the details or methodology set forth inthe description or illustrated in the figures. It should be understoodthat the terminology is for the purposes of description only and shouldnot be regarded as limiting.

Systems and methods are described herein for providing various featuresas part of a response vehicle management system associated with aresponse vehicle. More particularly, systems and methods are describedfor providing a response vehicle control and monitoring system. Thecontrol and monitoring system includes or interacts with various sensorsdispersed throughout the response vehicle. Each of the sensors maycapture signals regarding an operational aspect of a vehicle subsystem(e.g., a transmission, a water pump, a generator, a governor, a brakingsystem, a lighting system, and the like). The vehicle management systemis configured to receive the signals captured by the sensors andgenerate a vehicle subsystem display dataset based on the receivedsignals. The vehicle subsystem display datasets are then provided to adisplay, such that an operator is presented with graphicalrepresentations of various operational aspects of a plurality ofresponse vehicle subsystems. Thus, the operator is made aware of theoperational readiness of the vehicle to respond to an emergencysituation.

The vehicle response and control system further includes a transceiverconfigured to interface with a user device (e.g., a smartphone, tablet,laptop, etc.) of a user. The vehicle response and control system mayfurther format any generated display datasets (e.g., the vehiclesubsystem display discussed above) for transmittal by way of thetransceiver to the user device. For example, the vehicle subsystemdisplay datasets may be formatted as a webpage that is viewable via aweb browser on the user device. Thus, the user is able to monitor theoperational readiness of the vehicle from outside of the vehicle, thusenabling the vehicle's readiness to be assessed well in advance of anurgent situation.

Additionally, the vehicle response and control system is furtherconfigured to receive indications of the presence of various pieces ofemergency response equipment that is within the response vehicle. Insome embodiments, such indications are received from a detector includedor associated with the vehicle management system. For example, eachpiece of emergency response equipment may include a radio frequencyidentification tag that transmits a radio frequency signal that ispicked up by the detector (e.g., an antenna). Alternatively oradditionally, such indications may be received from the user device viathe transceiver. For example the user may provide an input on the userdevice indicating the presence of various pieces of equipment byscanning a barcode or the like affixed to the pieces of equipment. Inany event, based on the received indications, the response and controlsystem is configured to generate an inventory display dataset andtransmit the inventory display dataset to the display and/or the userdevice. Thus, various personnel are able to view the status of theresponse vehicle's inventory.

In another respect, the vehicle response and control system is furtherconfigured to provide assistance to a user in the inspection of theresponse vehicle. In this regard, the vehicle response and controlsystem may include a database storing a plurality of inspectioninstructions datasets that are specifically formatted to be viewable viathe user device. The vehicle response and control system may transmitsuch datasets to the user device via the transceiver, such that the useris presented with various inspection interfaces instructing the user toinspect various vehicle subsystems and emergency response equipmentassociated with the vehicle and provide various inputs indicative of thecondition of the identified equipment. Having received such user inputs,the sensor signals, and the indications of the presence of emergencyresponse equipment, the vehicle response and control system maydetermine an overall response readiness capability of the responsevehicle. Such an overall readiness may be presented via the display orvia the user device, such that emergency response personnel are aware ofthe overall readiness of the vehicle to response to an urgent situation.

Referring to FIG. 1, a response vehicle, shown as a fire truck 100,includes vehicle subsystems; shown as a transmission 102, an engine 104,a water tank 106, a pump 108, and an anti-lock braking system 110;vehicle subsystem controllers, shown as a transmission control system112, an engine control system 114, a pump control system 116, and ananti-lock brake control system 118; a vehicle management system 120; adisplay 122; equipment 124; a storage compartment 128; and a detector130. Other vehicle subsystems and corresponding controller systems mayalso be included in the fire truck 100. Such other system may include aninterlock system, a transmission, a power take off (PTO), a foam system,a water tank, a lighting system, a life control device, etc.

According to the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-8, the fire truck100 is a municipal fire fighting vehicle. According to alternativeembodiments, the fire truck may include an Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting(ARFF) vehicle, a forest fire apparatus, an aerial truck, a rescuetruck, a tanker, or still another type of fire fighting vehicle.According to still other embodiments, the vehicle is another type ofvehicle (e.g., a military vehicle, a commercial vehicle, etc.).

In the exemplary embodiment shown, each vehicle subsystem controller112-118 is configured to transmit control signals to correspondingvehicle subsystems 102-110 to facilitate the operation of the fire truck100. For example, the engine control system 114 may provide a controlsignal to the throttle of the engine 104 of the fire truck 100 tocontrol the combustion rate of fuel from a fuel source, therebycontrolling the speed of the fire truck 100. In various exampleembodiments, the control signals provided by the vehicle subsystemcontrollers 112-118 may be dependent on various inputs provided by anoperator of the fire truck 100. For example, the fire truck 100 mayinclude an operator input (not shown) configured to receive inputs fromthe operator or other personnel and provide various inputs to vehiclesubsystem controllers 112-118. The operator input may include one ormore buttons, knobs, touchscreens, switches, levers, joysticks, pedals,or handles. For example, the operator input may include a buttonenabling the operator to change the operating mode of the pump controlsystem 116 so as to pump water form a water source using the pump 108.In another example, the operator input may also include an acceleratorpedal enabling the operator to provide an input signal to the enginecontrol system 114. In some embodiments, such inputs may be provided viathe vehicle management system 120 via processes described below. Itshould be understood that, in some embodiments, other vehicle subsystemcontrollers 112-118 may not provide such an input to their correspondingvehicle subsystems. For example, a tire inflation subsystem controllermay merely monitor an attribute or aspect (e.g., the air pressure ofvarious tires of the fire truck 100) rather than provide an actuatinginput to the tires.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, each vehicle subsystem controller112-118 includes at least one sensor. Each sensor is configured tocapture a sensor signal that is indicative of the status of anoperational aspect of the corresponding vehicle subsystem 102-110. Forexample, a sensor associated with the transmission control system 112may measure any combination of a transmission temperature, atransmission fluid level, and/or transmission state (e.g., the currentgear of the transmission 102). In another example, a sensor associatedwith an engine 104 may measure any combination of an engine speed,engine hours, oil temperature, oil pressure, oil level, coolant level,fuel level, and so on. In another example, a sensor associated with awater tank 106 may measure a water level of the water tank. As will beappreciated, the form of the sensors will vary depending on theparticular vehicle subsystem 102-110 that the sensor is configured tomeasure and the particular operational aspect of the vehicle subsystem102-110 that the sensor is configured to measure.

The vehicle management system 120 is configured to enable the operatorand other users to interface with various vehicle subsystems 102-110 ofthe fire truck and monitor various other aspects of the fire truck 100.In this regard, the vehicle management system 120 is configured toreceive the sensor signals from the sensors discussed above, generatevehicle subsystem display datasets based on the received sensor signals,and transmit the display datasets to the display 122 and/or the userdevice 132 via the methods described below for presentation to theoperator of the fire truck 100 or other user. In the exemplaryembodiment shown, the vehicle management system 120 is furtherconfigured to establish connections with various devices (e.g., the userdevice 132 described below) and transmit various communications (e.g.,instructions, data, and the like) to those external devices. A moredetailed embodiment of the vehicle management system is explained belowin relation to FIG. 2.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the fire truck 100 further includes adisplay, shown as display 122. Display 122 may be, for example, atouchscreen display (e.g., a CANlink® CL-711 display manufactured by HEDInc., etc.) having a resistive touchscreen that receives a touch inputfrom a user. Display 122 may support any type of display feature, suchas a flipbook-style animation, or any other type of transition feature.Display 122 may generally provide a plurality of navigation buttons thatallow a user to select various displays and other options via touch.Display 122 may further, upon detection of a sensor signal captured byany of the vehicle subsystem controllers 112-118 generate a graphicalrepresentation of the sensor signal. For example, if a signal isreceived from a tire pressure sensor associated with a tire pressurecontrol system, a tire pressure screen may be displayed that providescurrent tire pressure information for the response vehicle. Display 122may have a wired or wireless connection with other response vehiclesubsystems and/or with remote devices.

The display 122 may be configured to display a graphical user interface,an image, an icon, a notification, and indication, and/or still otherinformation. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the display includes agraphical user interface configured to provide general information aboutthe fire truck 100 captured by the various sensors included in thevarious vehicle subsystem controllers 110-118. Through such aninterface, the operator of the fire apparatus may be able to viewvarious fluid levels of the fire truck 100 (e.g., fuel level, water tanklevel, transmission fluid level, foam level, etc.), tire pressures, themileage of the fire truck 100, battery voltage levels, and the like.

Additionally, via the graphical user interface, the operator may furtherbe able to view the status of various other aspects of the fire truck100. For example, as will be described below, the operator may viewdisplays containing information regarding an inventory of the equipment124 present on the fire truck 100. Additionally, the operator may alsoview displays assisting in the performance of an inspection of the firetruck 100 and reporting on the fire truck 100's readiness to respond toa dispatch call.

The display 122 may include any number of supporting buttons and othertactile user inputs to support interaction between a user and thedisplay. For example, a plurality of push buttons may be located next toor below the display to provide the user with further options. It shouldbe understood that the configuration of the display 122 may vary withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

The display 122 may include or support various technologies. Forexample, the display 122 be a touchscreen display and may be separatedinto any number of portions (e.g., a split-screen type display, etc.).For example, a first portion of the screen may be reserved for oneparticular type of display (e.g., warnings and alerts, etc.), whileanother portion of the screen may be reserved for general vehicleinformation (e.g., speed, fuel level, etc.). The display 122 may beconfigured to handle any type of transition, animation, or other displayfeature that allows for ease of access of information on the display.

In one embodiment, the display 122 is coupled to a USB input, allowingthe display software to be updated. For example, such updates mayinclude updating the maps stored on the display (e.g., to improvenavigation features, etc.). Further, custom files may be downloaded tothe display (e.g., custom logos, images, text, etc.) to personalize thedisplay 122 for use in the fire truck 100.

The display may include any number of video inputs (e.g., from one ormore cameras located on the fire truck 100, etc.). For example, thedisplay may be capable of receiving four video inputs and may display upto four video inputs simultaneously on the display. The display may beconfigured to detect when a camera feed is up, therefore determiningwhen to display a video input on the display or not (e.g., notdisplaying a blank or blue screen, etc.).

To adequately respond to emergency situations, the fire truck 100 notonly needs to be in working order (i.e., the vehicle subsystems 102-110must be functional), but also have various types of emergency responseequipment, shown as equipment 124, onboard. The equipment 124 mayinclude any object that is used by emergency response personnel inresponding to calls or the like. Examples of the equipment 124 includeradios, personal protection equipment (e.g., safety goggles,self-contained breathing apparatuses, compressed air cylinders, and thelike), ladders, various hand tools (e.g., crow bars, shovels, axes, andthe like), rope, flares, generators, hoses, lighting devices (e.g.,flashlights), first aid kits, and various other tools. To ensure allnecessary equipment 124 is within the fire truck 100, each piece ofequipment 124 may include a tracking tag 126.

In some embodiments, the fire truck 100 may include various storagecompartments 128 for storing various pieces of equipment 124. In someembodiments, the storage compartments 128 are accessible from theexterior of the fire truck 100. For example, various storagecompartments 128 may be located along the sides and rear of the firetruck 100. In some embodiments, each storage compartment 128 is designedto hold a predetermined set of pieces of equipment 124 in apredetermined configuration. For example, each storage compartment mayinclude a plurality of fixing members (e.g., braces, hooks, slots, andthe like) preconfigured to hold a particular piece of equipment 124.

The tracking tag 126 may include any device capable of uniquelyidentifying the piece of equipment 124 to which the tracking tag 126 isaffixed. In some embodiments, the tracking tag includes a code affixedto the piece of equipment 124. The code may be a barcode or a sequenceof symbols. In such embodiments, the operator other personnel mayinspect the fire truck 100 and provide an indication that a particularpiece of equipment 124 is present by, for example, entering the codeinto the user device 132. For example, a user may scan a barcode ormanually input a code affixed a particular piece of equipment 124 and,by so doing, provide an input to the vehicle management system 120 via asecure connection established between the user device 132 and thevehicle management system 120. Such an input may include the codeaffixed to the piece of equipment 124. The code may be stored (e.g., inthe vehicle database 220) in the vehicle management system 120 inassociation with the identity of the piece of equipment 124 such that,upon receipt of such an input, the vehicle management system 120 becomesaware that the piece of equipment 124 is present on the fire truck 100.The graphical interfaces presented to the operator via the display 122may include an indication that the piece of equipment 124 is present onthe fire truck 100.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the tracking tag 126, rather thanmerely being a code affixed to the piece of equipment 124, includes atransmitter (not shown) that transmits a wireless signal having aproduct code encoded thereon. For example, the tracking tag 126 mayinclude a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag or an near-fieldcommunications (NFC) tag transmitting a radio frequency signal encodedwith an equipment identification code (“ETD”). In another example, thetracking tag may include a Bluetooth® device that transmits a wirelesssignal including an EID.

In the example embodiment shown, the fire truck 100 further includes adetector 130 configured to receive the wireless signals emitted by thetracking tag 126 and relay the wireless signals to the vehiclemanagement 120. In one embodiment, the detector 130 may include awireless antenna that includes a wireless transceiver that both emits awireless signal (e.g., to excite the tracking tags 126 in the event thatpassive tracking tags 126 are used) and receives the signals emitted bythe tracking tags 126. While the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1only displays a single detector 130, it should be understood that thefire truck 100 may include a plurality of detectors 130 withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, in oneembodiment, the fire truck includes a plurality of detectors 130. Eachdetector 130 may be associated with a particular location of the firetruck 100 and may broadcast a wireless signal over a predetermined range(e.g., within a predetermined distance of within each detector 130). Thewireless signals may be configured to activate the tracking tags 126 ofvarious pieces of equipment 124 within the predetermined distance of thedetector 130. Using such an arrangement, the vehicle management system120, via methods described in greater detail below, may determine therelative location of various pieces of equipment 124 within the firetruck 100. Thus, misplaced equipment may be identified. In someembodiments, each detector 130 may be associated with a storagecompartment 128. As such, the vehicle management system 120 may be awareof the pieces of equipment contained in each storage compartment 128.

The user device 132 is a device associated with a user. The user mayinclude any individual having any sort of association with the firetruck 100. In one embodiment, the user is the operator of the firetruck. In various other embodiments, the user may include emergencyresponse personnel (e.g., firefighters, management personnel, and thelike), government inspectors, and the like. The user device 132 mayinclude any type of device capable of establishing a connection andreceiving information from the vehicle management system 120. As such,the user device 132 may include wearable devices such as a smart watchor a mobile computing device such as a smart phone, tablet, personaldigital assistant, and laptop computing device. Alternatively, the userdevice 132 may include a stationary computing system such as a desktopcomputer located at the fire station associated with the fire truck 100.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a more detailed view of the vehicle managementsystem 120 of the fire truck 100 of FIG. 1 is shown according to anexemplary embodiment. The vehicle management system 120 includes aprocessing circuit 202 including a processor 204 and a memory 206.Processor 204 may be a general purpose or specific purpose processor, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), one or more fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), a group of processing components, orother suitable processing components. Processor 204 may be configured toexecute computer code or instructions stored in memory 206 or receivedfrom other computer readable media (e.g., CDROM, network storage, aremote server, etc.) to perform one or more of the processes describedherein. Memory 206 may include one or more data storage devices (e.g.,memory units, memory devices, computer-readable storage media, etc.)configured to store data, computer code, executable instructions, orother forms of computer-readable information. Memory 206 may includerandom access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard drive storage,temporary storage, non-volatile memory, flash memory, optical memory, orany other suitable memory for storing software objects and/or computerinstructions. Memory 206 may include database components, object codecomponents, script components, or any other type of informationstructure for supporting the various activities and informationstructures described in the present disclosure. Memory 206 may becommunicably connected to processor 204 via processing circuit 202 andmay include computer code for executing (e.g., by processor 204, etc.)one or more of the processes described herein.

The memory 206 is described below as including various modules. Whilethe exemplary embodiment shown in the figures shows each of the modules208-218 as being separate from one another, it should be understoodthat, in various other embodiments, the memory may include more, less,or altogether different modules. For example, the structures andfunctions of one module may be performed by another module, or theactivities of two modules may be combined such that they are performedby only a signal module.

As shown in FIG. 2, the memory 206 includes an onboard communicationsmodule 208. Onboard communications module 208 is configured tofacilitate wireless communications with user devices and with othervehicles via communications interface 222 (e.g., a transceiver, etc.).Communications interface 222 may support any kind of wireless standard(e.g., 802.11 b/g/n, 802.11a, etc.) and may interface with any type ofmobile device (e.g., laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc.) having Wi-Ficapability. Communications interface 222 may further facilitate wirelesscommunications with an external global positioning system (GPS). Onboardcommunications module 208 may be any type of Wi-Fi capable module (e.g.,a CL-T04 CANect® Wi-Fi Module manufactured by HED Inc., etc.) configuredto support wireless communications with the mobile devices and otherresponse vehicles. In one embodiment, the user devices communicate withthe response vehicles via Wi-Fi. In other embodiments, thecommunications between the user devices and/or response vehicles may besupported via CDMA, GSM, or another cellular connection. In still otherembodiments, another wireless protocol is utilized (e.g., Bluetooth,Zigbee, radio, etc.).

Onboard communications module 208 may include various security featuresfor providing secure communications between the vehicle managementsystem 120 and user devices 132. Such a module may further include otherresponse vehicle-related features that may be used in the systems andmethods disclosed herein (e.g., diagnostics features, navigationfeatures, etc.). For more detail regarding the onboard communicationsmodule, see co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/097,278entitled “Response Vehicle Systems and Methods,” hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

In the example embodiment shown, the vehicle management system 120establishes a connection with the user device 132 via the communicationsinterface 222 as controlled by the onboard communications module 208.For example, the user may approach the fire truck 100 with the userdevice 132. The user device 132 may pick up a wireless signalbroadcasted by the communications interface 222. In response, the usermay provide an input to the user device 132 to establish a connection tothe vehicle management system 120 by inputting credentials (e.g., apassword or the like) in the user device 132. In response to receivingsuch an input, the onboard communications module 208 may cause theprocessor 204 of the vehicle management system 120 to authenticate theuser by comparing the input credentials to credentials stored in thevehicle management system 120 (e.g., in the vehicle database 220).Having authenticated the user, various encryption keys and the like maybe exchanged between the user device 132 and the vehicle managementsystem 120 to establish a secure connection between the vehiclemanagement system 120 and the user device 132. Such a connection maysupport any of the communications between the user device 132 and thevehicle management system 120 described herein. For example, variousdisplay datasets in the form of webpages may be transmitted by thevehicle management system 120 to the user device 132 such that thedatasets are viewable via a web browser on the user device 132. Suchwebpages may enable the user to provide various inputs to the vehiclemanagement system such as inputs relating to the inspection of variouspieces of equipment 124, as described below.

As shown in FIG. 2, the memory 206 includes a subsystem diagnosticmodule 210. Subsystem diagnostics module 210 is structured to enable theprocessor 204 of the vehicle management system 120 to interface withvarious vehicle subsystem controllers 112-118 of the fire truck 100. Inthe exemplary embodiment shown, the vehicle management system 120, viathe subsystems diagnostic module 210, may generate a vehicle subsystemreport based on various sensor signals received from the subsystemcontrollers 112-118. The report may be generated by comparing the sensorsignals received from the vehicle subsystem controllers 112-118 to aseries of baseline sensor values. For example, a baseline sensor valuefor the pump control system 116 may include a threshold water level thatis necessary for the fire truck to respond to any fire incident. Thus,upon receipt of a sensor signal indicative of the water level in thewater tank 106, the processor 204 may compare the received signal to thebaseline value to determine the operational status of the water tank106. The generated report may indicate whether the measured water levelof the water tank 106 is above or below the baseline value. As will beunderstood, there may be multiple baseline values with respect to eachsensor of the vehicle subsystem controllers 112-118. A similar processmay be repeated for each subsystem controller 112-118 to generate reportindicating the status of each operational aspect of the fire truck 100measured by the vehicle subsystem controllers 112-118.

The subsystem diagnostic module 210 may be structured to interface withvarious other modules to present the vehicle subsystems report to anoperator and/or other user. For example, the diagnostics module 210 mayinterface with the display module 214 to present the operator with thevehicle subsystem report via the display 122. The display module 214 maybe configured to present the generated vehicle subsystems report on thedisplay 122. Alternatively or additionally, the subsystem diagnosticmodule 210 may interface with the onboard communications module 208 soas to format the generated vehicle subsystem report into a webpage orthe like that is viewable on the user device 132 and transmit the reportdata to the user device 132 via the secure connection discussed above.

As shown in FIG. 2, the memory 206 further includes an inventorytracking module 212 configured to track the equipment 124 disposed at orproximate to the fire truck 100. For example, based on the wirelesssignals received from the tracking tags 126 affixed to the equipment124, the inventory tracking module 212 may identify all of the pieces ofequipment 124 within a predetermined distance of the fire truck 100. Forexample, the inventory tracking module 212 may generate a list of thepieces of equipment 124 within the predetermined distance of the vehicleby accessing a lookup table including various EIDs associated withvarious pieces of equipment 124 that the municipality or fire departmentassociated with the fire truck 100 has deemed necessary for the firetruck. The lookup table may match the EIDs with various equipmentdescriptions. Using the lookup tables, a report of present equipment 124may be presented to the operator and/or other user via methods similarto those discussed above in relation to the vehicle subsystem report. Ifa required piece of equipment 124 is found to not be within thepredetermined distance of the fire truck 100, for example, the reportmay identify the missing piece of equipment. A more detailed explanationof the inventory tracking module 212 will be discussed below in relationto FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the memory 206 further includes a display module214. The display module 214 is structured to cause the processor 204 togenerate various displays for viewing by the display 122. In the exampleembodiments shown, the displays presented via the display 122 may varydepending on various inputs received from the operator or other user.For example, the display module 214 may include a menu navigation module(not shown). The menu navigation module may present the operator with amenu interface presenting various options to the operator. Each optionmay include a selectable widget configured to cause the display module214 to generate and/or retrieve a particular display in response to theoperator's selection of the widget (e.g., by the operator touching thescreen of the display 122 in a position that corresponds to a particularwidget). For example, the menu interface may include a vehicle subsystemwidget, an inventory widget, and a vehicle readiness widget. In responseto the operator selecting the subsystem widget, the display module 214may cause the processor 206 to provide the vehicle subsystem reportdiscussed above on the display 122. While display module 214 isdescribed with reference to the fire truck 100 in FIG. 2, it should beunderstood that display module 214 may provide the same or a similartype of interface, with the same, similar, or different types offeatures (e.g., touchscreen input capability, etc.) to the user devices132 as well.

In some embodiments, the display module 214 may generate and/or retrievevarious displays for presentation via the display 122 in response toreceiving various other inputs. For example, if the subsystem diagnosticmodule 210 determines that a particular subsystem 102-110 is operatingsub-optimally in at least one respect (e.g., the tire pressure is belowa threshold, the water level in the water tank 106 is below a threshold,a lighting system is failing to emit light, etc.), the display module214 may generate a subsystem alert that identifies the sub-optimalsubsystem 102-110 and the fault of the subsystem 102-110 (e.g., thedisplay 122 may present a message indicating that the braking system ismalfunctioning).

As shown in FIG. 2, the memory 206 further includes an inspectionassistance module 216. The inspection assistance module 216 isconfigured to facilitate an inspection by a user of various aspects ofthe fire truck 100 via a secure connection established between the userdevice 132 and the vehicle management system 120. In this regard, theinspection assistance module 216 may interface with the display module214 to transmit various display datasets to the user device 13 2 via thesecure connection. Such display datasets may, for example, identify aplurality of inspection points of the fire truck 100 and list aplurality of pieces of equipment 124 at each inspection point to beinspected by the user. Further, such display datasets may enable theuser to provide various inputs indicative of the condition of each ofthe pieces of equipment 124 inspected by the user. Further, theinspection assistance module 216 may cause the processor 204 to compileall such inputs into an inspection report that may be stored in thevehicle management system (e.g., in the vehicle database 220) and/orpresented via the display 122. Inspection assistance module 216 isdescribed in greater detail below with reference to FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, the memory 206 further includes a readinessassessment module 218. The readiness assessment module 218 is configuredto assess overall response readiness of the fire truck 100. In thisregard, the readiness assessment module 218 is structured to cause theprocessor 204 to identify various faults of the fire truck 100 based onvarious inputs. Such inputs may be received from the reports generatedby the subsystem diagnostic module 210 and the inventory tracking module212. For example, if a report generated by the subsystem diagnosticmodule 210 indicates that the engine 104 is sub-optimal in at least onerespect (e.g., the oil level is below a threshold), the readinessassessment module 218 may cause the processor 204 to identify that as adefect. Additionally, such inputs may also be received from the userdevice 132. For example, if the user inspects a particular piece ofequipment 124, identifies a defect associated therewith (e.g., acompressed air cylinder has a cracked gage) and provides an inputindicating as much via the displays presented via the inspectionassistance module 216, the readiness assessment module 218 may cause theprocessor 204 to identify an inventory defect.

Having identified various defects (e.g., in the operation of variousvehicle subsystems 102-110, in various pieces of equipment 124, or inother aspects of the fire truck 100), the readiness assessment module218 further causes the processor to assign a readiness reduction scorefor each defect and to determine the overall emergency readiness of thefire truck 100 based on the assigned scores. Various alerts may bepresented to the operator and/or other user if the readiness of the firetruck 100 falls below a threshold. Readiness assessment module isdescribed in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 7.

In some embodiments, the vehicle management system 120 further includesa call reporting module (not shown). The call reporting module isconfigured to receive information pertaining to the fire truck 100'sresponse to a service call. For example, upon receiving an emergencycall, a manager or the like may transmit a dispatch call to the firetruck 100 via a user device 132. The dispatch call may identify a typeof call (e.g., the type of scene that requires the fire truck 100), aresponse address, and a dispatch time. Upon receipt of a dispatch call,the reporting module may configure the processor 204 to generate a runsheet entry for the dispatch call. The run sheet entry may include areport having various entries describing the call such as, the time thatthe vehicle was dispatched, the time the fire truck 100 was on scene,the mileage of the truck driven, the number of personnel on the firetruck 100, whether the pump 108 was engaged, the response address, andthe type of dispatch call. The call reporting module is structured tocause the processor 204 to gather the information associated with theentries in the run sheet. For example, certain information may begathered from the dispatch call received from the user device 132. Otherinformation, such as the timing of the end of the call, the mileagedriven, and the engagement status of the pump 108 may be determinedbased on the outputs of various vehicle subsystem controllers 112-118.For example, the call reporting module may interface with an odometer ofthe fire truck 100 to determine the miles driven. Additionally, the callreporting module may interface with the pump control system 116 todetermine if the pump is engaged during the call. Other information maybe manually input by the operator via the display 122. Various completedrun sheets may then be stored in the vehicle database 220, thus enablingthe fire truck 100's utilization to be accurately monitored.

As shown in FIG. 2, memory 206 also includes a vehicle database 220configured to store various forms of information pertaining to the firetruck 100. The vehicle database may include, for example, telemetricdata captured by various vehicle subsystem controllers 112-118. Forexample, the subsystem diagnostic module 210 may include a data loggeror the like that stores any sensor signals received from the subsystemcontrollers 112-118. The vehicle database 220 may include a plurality oftelemetry datasets, with each dataset corresponding to a differentsensor device of each vehicle subsystem controller 112-118. Each datasetmay include a plurality of entries, with each entry including a sensorsignal value and a time stamp. Alternatively or additionally, thevehicle database 220 may store the vehicle subsystem reports generatedvia the subsystem diagnostic module 210.

Additionally, the vehicle database 220 may store information gatheredvia the inventory tracking module 212, the inspection assistance module216, and the readiness assessment module 218. For example, each time theinventory tracking module 212 generates a report listing the variouspieces of equipment 124 within a predetermined distance of the firetruck 100 at a particular point in time, the report may be retrievablystored in the vehicle database 220. Similarly, whenever a user providesan inspection input to the vehicle management system 120 (e.g., byselecting a defect of a particular piece of equipment 124 on a displayon the user device 132), the input may be stored in an inspectiondataset maintained by the vehicle database 220. The inspection datasetmay include a plurality of entries with each entry including aninspection point, an EID, a listing of the defect found to be present bythe user, and a time stamp. By accessing such data, a fire department ormunicipality associated with the fire truck 100 is able to track thestatus of various historical defects. The department may gain insightsas to the responsiveness with which various defects of the fire truck100 are addressed.

In some embodiments, the vehicle database 220 also includes electronicversions of various manuals associated with the fire truck 100. Forexample, the vehicle database 220 may include digital versions of anoperator manual of the fire truck 100. The operator manual may includedescriptions of various components of the fire truck 100. The operatormanual may be stored in a format such that it is presentable to theoperator via the display 122. The vehicle management system 120 mayfurther include a searching algorithm enabling in the operator toselectively retrieve various portions of the operator manual (e.g.,pertaining to specific vehicle subsystems 102-110). Alternatively oradditionally, the operator manual may be stored such that it istransmittable via the communications interface 222 to various externalcomputing systems (e.g., the user device 132). This way, other users ofthe fire truck may interface with the operator manual.

Additionally, the vehicle database 220 may also include a service manualassociated with the fire truck 100. The service manual may include alisting of various parts of the fire truck 100 and include instructionspertaining to repairing various components of the fire truck 100. Aswith the operator manual discussed above, the service manual may besearchable and transmitted for view via the display 122. In somearrangements, users (e.g., service technicians or the like) may interactwith the service manual to order various parts for repairing the firetruck 100. For example, upon a particular vehicle subsystem 102-110malfunctioning (e.g., as determined by the subsystem diagnostics module210), the user may be brought to a service manual display associatedwith the vehicle subsystem 102-110 automatically by the vehiclemanagement system 120. The service manual display may identify variousparts associated with the identified vehicle subsystem 102-110. Theservice manual display may be configured to receive various inputs fromthe user. For example, the user may select various parts and furtherselect an “order” or “add to cart” button to send an order request to apre-identified vendor. Thus technicians are able to efficiently orderparts via the systems and methods disclosed herein.

In some embodiments, the vehicle database 220 further includesinformation pertaining to a plurality of subscribers of the fire truck100. Each subscriber may be a person authorized to access the vehiclemanagement system 120 (e.g., an operator, a commander, a servicetechnician, a representative from the manufacturer of the fire truck).Subscriber information may include, for example, authenticationcredentials (e.g., a username, password, and the like used to enable thesubscriber to establish a secure connection with the fire truck 100 viaa user device 132), various subscriber-set thresholds described herein(e.g., subscribers may set thresholds relating to sensor data capturedby vehicle subsystem controllers 112-118), and various readinessreduction score thresholds described below to receive alerts when thefire truck meets the thresholds, and subscriber device identifyinginformation (e.g., an IP address associated with a user device 132).Vehicle subscribers may be sent periodic updates regarding the status ofthe fire truck 100.

The data may be removed from the vehicle database 220 once the data isuploaded to a remote cloud storage. For example, long-term storage ofthe telemetry data and other data may be done on a centralized server,and communications interface 222 may wirelessly connect with a remoteserver to transmit and store the data. The data includes a timestamp andvehicle identifier information to identify the data in remote server.

In one embodiment, the data is automatically updated periodically. Thedata may also be updated upon user request. A controller area network(CAN) controller, such as subsystems diagnostics module 210 or anothermodule may be configured to monitor the data and to determine when apotential status of the fire truck has changed based on the telemetrydata changes.

Vehicle database 220 may be any type of database (e.g., a SQLitedatabase, etc.), and modules 208-218 may query the database using anytype of language or method via backend framework. The backend frameworkof vehicle management system 120 may support the activities ofperiodically updating and querying vehicle database 220, as well asproviding web layer authentication (e.g., to authenticate devices thatattempt to access data from vehicle database 220, etc.). The backendframework may further support the various security-related functionalityof onboard communications module 208.

Vehicle management system 120 may include, for example, a data transportprotocol layer configured to facilitate the query of data from vehicledatabase 220 for use by the various modules of memory 206. In oneembodiment, at least one of web sockets and AJAX polling is used toinvoke queries via backend framework and provide the data to thefrontend applications (e.g., the application layer, the modules, etc.),as they allow changes to database 220 to be detected and pushed to theapplication layer. The use of web sockets and/or AJAX may be based oncompatibility constraints and performance constraints with the userdevices 132 accessing vehicle management system 120. The applicationlayer, or the frontend application, of vehicle management system 120 maybe built using, for example, HTML5, CSS, and various Javascriptlibraries.

Referring now to FIG. 3, inventory tracking module 212 of the vehiclemanagement system 120 is described in greater detail. Inventory trackingmodule 212 may receive data regarding various pieces of equipment 124 onthe fire truck 100, identify various pieces of equipment 124 within apredetermined distance of the fire truck 100 based on the receivedsignals, and provide inventory information for display on the display122 or via the user device 132. While inventory tracking module 212 isshown as a standalone module in FIG. 3, in other embodiments, thevarious activities described in diagnostics module 210 may be carriedout by other modules and systems of the vehicle management system 120 ofthe fire truck 100.

As shown in FIG. 3, the inventory tracking module 212 includes anequipment identification module 302. The equipment identification module302 is structured to cause the processor 206 to receive vehicleinventory data. Vehicle inventory data may include, for example, signalsreceived by the detector 130 from various tracking tags 126 affixed tovarious pieces of equipment 124 on the fire truck 100. Alternatively oradditionally, vehicle inventory may also include inputs received fromthe user device 132. For example, after establishing a secure connectionwith the vehicle management system 220 via the methods discussed above,the user may scan a barcode affixed to a piece of equipment 124, therebyproviding an input to the vehicle management system 120 indicating thepresence of the piece of equipment 124. As discussed above, vehicleinventory data may include various EIDs associated with various piecesof equipment 124. Thus, upon receipt of vehicle inventory data, piecesof equipment 124 present on the fire truck 100 may be identified viaaccessing a lookup table. An inventory logging module 306 may beconfigured to log the fire truck 100's inventory of equipment at variouspoints in time. For example, once an equipment list for a particularpoint in time is generated, the list may be stored in the vehicledatabase 220 in association with that point in time.

In some embodiments, the inventory tracking module 212 further includesan equipment locator module 304. The equipment locator module 304 isconfigured to determine the relative location of various pieces ofequipment 124 within the fire truck. The methods through which therelative location is determined may vary depending upon theimplementation of the detector 130. As discussed above, in someembodiments, the fire truck 100 includes a plurality of detectors 130configured to receive wireless signals emitted by tracking tags 126affixed to various pieces of equipment 124 within a predetermineddistance. Thus, the equipment locator module 304 configures theprocessor 204 to identify the relative location of a particular piece ofequipment 124 by determining which detector 130 received the wirelesssignal emitted by the tracking tag 126 associated with that piece ofequipment 124. For example, upon detection of a wireless signal from atracking tag 126, the detector 130 may relay a notification signal tothe vehicle management system 120. The notification signal may includethe EID encoded in the signal received from the tracking tag 126 as wellas a detector identifier. Each detector identifier may be stored inassociation with a particular location of the fire truck 100 (e.g., inassociation with a particular storage compartment 128). Thus, theequipment locator module 304 may further configure the processor 206 toaccess another lookup table to determine the relative location of aparticular piece of equipment.

A reporting module 308 may be provided to generate a report relating tothe equipment inventory of the response vehicle. The report may identifythe various pieces of equipment 124 that were detected to be on the firetruck 100, as well as catalog the relative location of each detectedpiece of equipment 124. Additionally, the reporting module 308 mayformat the report for presentation to various personnel. For example,the reporting module 308 may format the equipment list generated by theequipment identification module 302 for display on a webpage on abrowser of the user device 132. Communications interface 222 may thentransmit the equipment list wirelessly to the user device 132 forviewing by the user. Alternatively or additionally, the report may bepresented via the display 122 responsive to the operator providing aninput indicative of a preference to view the report.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a flow chart of a process 400 for providinginventory information to a user is shown, according to an exemplaryembodiment. Process 400 may be executed by, for example, the inventorytracking module 212. Process 400 may be executed to provide inventoryinformation to a commander prior to dispatching the fire truck 100 on aservice call. For example, the commander may receive inventoryinformation from various fire trucks 100 at the station and may use theinventory information to decide which vehicle to dispatch on a servicecall.

Process 400 includes retrieving an inventory checklist (block 802). Forexample, a department or municipality associated with the fire apparatusmay set standards or guidelines describing the various pieces ofequipment 124 that must be present on a fire truck 100 in order for thefire truck to be dispatched. Such guidelines may be stored, for example,in the vehicle database 220 of the vehicle management system 120.Alternatively, an inventory checklist may be generated based on pastinventory data captured via the inventory tracking module 212. Forexample, the inventory tracking module 212 may cause the processor 206to retrieve the last inventory list for the fire truck 100 captured viathe inventory tracking module 212.

Process 400 includes receiving data indicative of present pieces ofequipment 124 (block 404). In one embodiment, a detector 130 (or aplurality thereof) of the fire truck 100 captures a series of wirelesssignals transmitted by various tracking tags 126 affixed to variouspieces of equipment 124 on the fire truck 100. Upon the detection of aparticular wireless signal from a tracking tag 126 affixed to aparticular piece of equipment 124, the detector 130 relays anotification signal to the vehicle management system 120. Thenotification signal may include an EID associated with the piece ofequipment 124.

Process 400 further includes determining the location of present piecesof equipment (block 406). As discussed above, the relative location of aparticular piece of equipment 124 may be identified based on theparticular detector 130 that detected the piece of equipment 124.Alternatively, the relative location of each piece of equipment 124 maybe determined based on the strength of the signal received from thetracking tag 126 by the detector 130. For example, the detector 130 mayalso measure the intensity of the wireless signals received from thetracking tags 126. The equipment locator module 304 may further includea lookup table that maps various intensity values with various distancesfrom the detector 130. Accordingly, by measuring the intensity of thewireless signals received from the tracking tags 126, the distance ofthe pieces of equipment 124 from the detector 130 may be determined. Ifmultiple detectors 130 capture the wireless signals emitted by thetracking tags 126, then the location of the all of the pieces ofequipment 124 may be determined by way of triangulation.

Process 400 further includes determining of all items on the retrievedinventory checklist are present (block 408). A list of pieces ofequipment 124 present on the fire truck 100 may be generated based onthe data received at 404. For example, a lookup table included in theinventory tracking module 212 may be accessed to identify the presentpieces of equipment 124 based on the EIDs included in the signalsreceived from the detector 130. The generated list may then be comparedto the inventory checklist retrieved at 402 to determine if any piecesof equipment 124 are missing from the fire truck 100. If pieces ofequipment 124 are missing, a missing item alert is generated (block410). For example, a description of the missing piece of equipment 124as well as any desired location for the missing item may be identifiedbased on the inventory checklist retrieved at 402. Upon the generationof the alert, the display module 214 may present the alert to theoperator via the display 122. Alternatively, the alert may betransmitted to the user device 132 for presentation to the user.

Process 400 further includes determining if any equipment is misplaced(block 412). For example, the relative location of each identifiedpresent piece of equipment 124 may be compared to suggested locationsincluded on the retrieved inventory checklist. If a mismatch is found, amisplaced item alert may be generated (block 414). The alert maydescribe the misplaced piece of equipment 124 and identify the nature ofthe displacement. For example, the misplaced piece of equipment 124 maybe currently located in the improper storage compartment 128.Accordingly, the alert may identify the current location of themisplaced equipment and the suggested location for the misplacedequipment.

Process 400 further includes generating an inventory report (block 416).The inventory report may identify the equipment 124 present on the firetruck 100 and include the locations of the present equipment 124. Thereport may also identify any missing equipment and any unnecessaryequipment present on the fire truck 100. For example, piece of equipment124 meant to be stored on fire trucks other than the fire truck 100 maybe inadvertently placed in the fire truck 100. Once generated, thereport is transmitted to the user device 132 and/or display 122. Thus,various personnel may be notified of the status of the various pieces ofequipment 124 at or near the fire truck 100.

Referring now to FIG. 5, inspection assistance module 216 of vehiclemanagement system 120 is described in greater detail. Inspectionassistance module 216 may transmit various display datasets to a userdevice 132 in order to provide assistance to a user in inspecting thefire truck 100 and various pieces of equipment 124 located thereon.Further, the inspection assistance module 216 may receive various inputsfrom the user device 132 indicative of the condition of variouscomponents of the fire truck 100. While inspection assistance module 216is shown as a standalone module in FIG. 5, in other embodiments, thevarious activities described regarding the inspection assistance module216 may be carried out by other modules and systems of the vehiclemanagement system 120 of the fire truck 100.

Inspection assistance module 216 may be configured to present a userwith various displays configured to assist the user in performing aninspection of the fire truck 100. As shown in FIG. 5, inspectionassistance module 216 includes an inspection navigation module 502configured to transmit various inspection instruction datasets to theuser device 132 via the secure connection discussed above establishedvia the onboard communications module 208. The inspection assistancemodule 216 may selectively retrieve the inspection instruction datasetsfrom the vehicle database 220 based on various inputs from the userdevice 132 described below. Such inspection instruction datasets may beformatted as webpages such that, upon receipt by the user device 132,various inspection instruction interfaces are presented to the user. Oneinspection interface may identify a plurality of inspection points ofthe fire truck 100. Inspection points may identify various aspects ofthe fire truck that must be inspected. Example inspection points includea windshield of the fire truck, tires of the fire truck 100, variousvehicle subsystems 102-110, storage compartments 128 and associatedpieces of equipment 124, and various other aspects of the fire truck100.

Additionally, the user may interact with the inspection interface toprovide various inputs to the vehicle management system 120. Forexample, upon the user's selection of a particular inspection point ofthe fire truck 100, the inspection navigation module 502 may cause theprocessor 204 of the vehicle management system 120 to retrieve anequipment inventory checklist associated with the inspection point fromthe vehicle database 220. The inventory checklist may identify variouspieces of equipment that should be present at the inspection point, orhave been measured to be present at the inspection point (e.g. by themethod 400 discussed above). Further, upon the user selecting aparticular piece of equipment 124 from the checklist, another inspectioninterface stored in association with the selected piece of equipment maybe retrieved from the vehicle database 220. The retrieved interface mayinstruct the user to provide various inputs as to the condition of theselected piece of equipment. For example, if the selected piece ofequipment 124 is a compressed air cylinder, the interface may instructthe user to provide inputs regarding the condition of a pressure gage ofthe cylinder (e.g., indicate whether the gage is cracked, provide aninput as to the general outward appearance of a release valve, etc.).

The inspection assistance module 216 further includes a results loggingmodule 504. As the user navigates through the fire truck 100 to variousinspection points and inspects various pieces of equipment 124, the userprovides various inputs indicating the condition of the fire truck 100and the pieces of equipment 124. The results logging module 504 isconfigured to store these inputs in the vehicle database 220 as they arereceived from the user device 132.

A reporting module 506 may compile the various inputs received from theuser device 132 in the inspection process described above into aninspection report. The inspection report may identify the various piecesof equipment 124 located by the user and identify the condition of theidentified pieces of equipment based on the inputs provided by the user.The report may be transmitted by the vehicle management system 120 tovarious other computing devices such that various personnel (e.g., acommander or department manager) may be aware of the general conditionof the vehicle as determined by the user.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a flow chart of a process 600 for assisting auser in inspecting a response vehicle is shown, according to anexemplary embodiment. Process 600 may be executed by, for example, theinspection assistance module 216. Process 600 may be executed to providethe results of an inspection to a manager or other personnel remote fromthe vehicle. For example, a commander may receive inspection reportspertaining to various fire trucks 100 associated with a particularstation, and may manage the use of the fire trucks based on the reports.

Process 600 includes receiving a user input to perform an inspection(block 602). For example, a user such as a city inspector or the likemay bring a user device 132 within the communication range of thevehicle management system 120 such that the user device 132 receives awireless signal broadcasted by the communications interface 222. Theuser may request to connect the vehicle management system 120, provideauthentication credentials, and establish a connection to the vehiclemanagement system 120. In response, the vehicle management system 120may transmit a main menu interface in the form of a webpage to the userdevice 132. The main menu interface may present the user with variousoptions. For example, the main menu interface may enable the user toview the subsystem diagnostic reports generated via the subsystemdiagnostic module 210, the inventory reports generated via the inventorytracking module 212, or the perform an inspection of the fire truck 100.The user may select the inspection option, thereby causing the vehiclemanagement system 120 to receive the user input to perform aninspection.

Process 600 includes receiving an indication that the user is at aninspection point (block 604). For example, after receiving the userinput to perform an inspection, the inspection assistance module 216 maycause the processor 204 to retrieve an initial inspection instructiondataset from the vehicle database 220 and to transmit the dataset to theuser device 132 via the secure connection. The initial inspectioninstruction dataset may be formatted as a webpage, and present the userwith various inspection points of the fire truck. Upon arriving at aninspection point (e.g., the windshield of the fire truck), the user mayselect the inspection point to provide an indication that the userwishes to inspect that inspection point.

Process 600 includes transmitting inspection point data to the userdevice (block 606) and receiving various inspection inputs from the user(block 608). For example, once the user selects a particular inspectionpoint the inspection assistance module 216 may cause the processor 204to retrieve an equipment inventory list stored in association with thatinspection point from the vehicle database 220. The inventory list mayidentify various aspects of the inspection point (e.g., components ofthe fire truck 100 itself, various pieces of equipment 124 at theinspection point, etc.). The user may select an aspect of the inspectionpoint, thereby causing another inspection instruction dataset to beretrieved and transmitted to the user device 132. This dataset maypresent the user with instructions regarding the selected aspect of theinspection point. Turning back to the windshield example, an inspectioninstruction dataset associated with the windshield may include adropdown menu identifying various potential defects of the windshield(e.g., cracks, chips, and the like). Thus, the user may select a pieceof equipment 124, provide various inputs regarding the condition of theselected piece of equipment 124, and repeat this process until all ofthe aspects of the inspection point identified by the equipmentinventory list associated with the inspection point have been assessedby the user.

Process 600 further includes determining if the user has completed allof the inspection points (block 610). Once the user completes blocks604-606 for a particular inspection point, the user may be brought toanother interface identifying the inspection points of the fire truckthat the user is yet to inspect. The user may arrive at anotherinspection point, and repeat blocks 604-606 until all of the inspectionpoints for the fire truck 100 have been completed.

Process 600 further includes storing the inspection results 612. Forexample, after the user has inspected each piece of equipment 124 of thefire truck 100 the processor 204 may execute the reporting module 506discussed above to generate an inspection report, and store theinspection report in the vehicle database 220. As such, the inspectionreport is conveniently accessible for later retrieval.

Referring now to FIG. 7, readiness assessment module 218 of vehiclemanagement system 120 is described in greater detail. Readinessassessment module 218 is configured to interface with various othermodules (e.g., the subsystem diagnostic module 210, the inventorytracking module 212, and the inspection assistance module 216) toprovide real time assessments of a response vehicle's current state ofreadiness to respond to a particular situation. In one embodiment, thereadiness assessment module 218 is a standalone module. In otherembodiments, may be integrated with any of the other modules describedherein. For example, in one embodiment each of the subsystem diagnosticmodule 210, the inventory tracking module 212, and the inspectionassistance module 216 includes a readiness assessment modulespecifically configured to perform the various operations describedbelow.

As shown in FIG. 7, readiness assessment module 218 includes a subsystemfault identification module 702. The subsystem fault identificationmodule 702 is configured to identify various faults in vehiclesubsystems 102-110. In this regard, the subsystem fault identificationmodule 702 may interface with the subsystem diagnostics module 210 so asto receive data gathered by various vehicle subsystem controllers112-118. Additionally, subsystem fault identification module 702 mayreceive the results of the various comparisons performed by thesubsystems diagnostics module 210 discussed above to identify varioussubsystem faults. For example if subsystem diagnostics module 210receives a signal from a tire pressure subsystem controller anddetermines that a tire of the fire apparatus has an air pressure below apredetermined threshold, the subsystem fault identification module 702may identify that as a vehicle subsystem fault.

Additionally, the subsystem fault identification module 702 may furtherassess historical vehicle subsystem data stored in the vehicle database220 to determine if any trends in the data captured by the variousvehicle subsystem controllers 112-118 are indicative of any vehiclesubsystem faults. For example, the subsystem fault identification module702 may cause the processor 204 to retrieve historical water levelmeasurements captured by a sensor associated with the water tank 106. Ifthere is a steady decline in the measurements without the water beingdischarged by the pump system 108, for example, this may be a result ina leak in the water tank 106. Thus, even if the subsystem diagnosticmodule 210 fails to identify a fault in a vehicle subsystem 102-110(e.g., because the sensor value maintains a proper relationship with apredetermined threshold), the subsystem fault identification module 702may identify subsystem faults based on various trends in the sensorsignal values stored in the vehicle database 220.

Additionally, subsystem fault identification module 702 may furtherreceive various inputs provided by the user during the inspectionsdiscussed above to identify other vehicle subsystem faults. For example,the user may inspect a vehicle subsystem 102-110 as instructed by theinspection assistance module 216, identify a fault (e.g., a damagedexterior), and provide an input identifying the fault via the inspectioninterfaces discussed above. Upon receipt of the input by the vehiclemanagement system 120, the subsystem fault identification module 702 mayidentify the fault based on the input.

As shown in FIG. 7, the readiness assessment module 218 further includesan inventory fault identification module 704 configured to identifyvarious deficiencies in the equipment 124 present on the fire truck 100.In this regard, the inventory fault identification module 704 isconfigured to receive the reports generated by the inventory trackingmodule 212 identifying pieces of equipment 124 that are missing from thefire truck 100. Alternatively or additionally, the inventory faultidentification module 704 may perform similar functions as discussedabove with respect to the inventory tracking module 212 (e.g., receiveidentification signals from the detector 130, identify present pieces ofequipment 124 based on the received signals, and identify missingequipment 124 by comparing present equipment 124 to various inventorychecklists) to identify pieces of equipment 124 missing from the firetruck.

In some embodiments, the inventory fault identification module 704 mayinterface with other emergency response vehicles (e.g., other firetrucks similar to the fire truck 100 located at the same station) orcomputing systems to identify various faults in the equipment 124 of thefire truck 100. For example, another fire truck may generate a reportidentifying various pieces of equipment on the fire truck (e.g., via aninventory tracking module similar to the inventory tracking module 212discussed above) and transmit the report to the fire truck 100 via asecure connection. Upon receipt of such a report (e.g., viacommunications interface 222, as controlled by the onboardcommunications module 208), the processor 204 may assess the report byexecuting the inventory fault identification module 704. As discussedabove, inventory reports generated by the vehicle management system 120may include a plurality of EIDs, with each EID being associated with aseparate piece of equipment. These EIDs may be previously established bythe organization (e.g., department, municipality, or the like) withwhich the fire truck 100 is associated. Each fire truck, such as thefire truck 100, may be assigned a set of equipment 124. Thus, a specificset of EIDs may be assigned to the fire truck 100. Thus, upon receipt ofthe inventory report from another fire truck, the vehicle managementsystem 120 may cross reference the EIDs contained in the report with thelist of EIDs previously assigned to the fire truck 100 to determine ifany of the equipment 124 previously assigned to the fire truck 100 iscurrently located on another fire truck. Such a misplacement may beidentified as an inventory fault. As such, management personal maymonitor the organization of pieces of equipment 124 amongst variousresponse vehicles.

Additionally, inventory fault identification module 704 may furtherreceive various inputs provided by the user during the inspectionsdiscussed above to identify other inventory faults. For example, theuser may inspect the equipment 124 as instructed by the inspectionassistance module 216, identify a fault, and provide an inputidentifying the fault via the inspection interfaces discussed above.Upon receipt of the input by the vehicle management system 120, theinventory fault identification module 704 may identify the fault basedon the input.

As shown in FIG. 7, the readiness assessment module 218 further includesa scoring module 706 configured to determine the fire truck 100'sreadiness to respond to various emergency situations. In an exemplaryembodiment, the vehicle management system 120 is configured to determinea readiness reduction score for each of the various faults in thevehicle subsystems 102-110, equipment 124, and other components of thefire truck 100 detected by the subsystem fault identification module 702and the inventory fault identification module 704 via the scoring module706. For each identified fault, the scoring module 706 may cause theprocessor 204 to access a lookup table to identify such a readinessreduction score. For example, for a vehicle subsystem fault associatedwith a particular vehicle subsystem 102-110 identified via the sensorsignals captured by the vehicle subsystem controllers 112-118, a lookuptable associated with the vehicle subsystem 102-110 may be accessed. Thelookup table may include a plurality of entries. Each entry may includea sensor signal level and a readiness reduction score. The readinessreduction scores may be determined, for example, by department withwhich the fire truck 100 is associated or by various subscribers to thefire truck 100. In an example, if a fault in the water tank 106 isdetected (e.g., the water level in the water tank 106 is low), areadiness reduction score is assigned to the water tank 106 based on thedetected water level. On the lookup table, the lower water levelmeasured (e.g., by the pump control system 116), the higher readinessreduction score.

In another example regarding various pieces of equipment 124 that arepresent or not present on the fire truck 100, the scoring module 706 mayinclude an inventory lookup table that assigns a readiness reductionscore to each piece of equipment 124 missing from the fire truck 100. Toillustrate, the inventory lookup table may include a first readinessreduction score associated with a missing axe, a second readinessreduction score associated with a missing air canister, and a thirdreadiness reduction score associated with a missing hose. Accordingly,if, via the various methods disclosed herein, the vehicle managementsystem 120 determines that the fire truck 100 is missing an axe, twocompressed air cylinders, and a missing hose, the correspondingreadiness reduction scores may be identified based on the inventorylookup table and added to generate a total inventory readiness reductionscore.

Further, the scoring module 706 may assign additional readinessreduction scores based on various inputs received during an inspectionof the fire truck 100. In one embodiment, the user may individuallyassign readiness reduction scores to various pieces of equipment 124 orvehicle subsystems 102-110 while inspecting the vehicle. For example,the various inspection interfaces discussed above may enable the user toinput a readiness reduction score for each aspect (e.g., inspect point,equipment 124, vehicle subsystem 102-110, or other component) of thefire truck 100 inspected. In such embodiments, the scoring module 706may retrieve the most recent inspection report (e.g., from the vehicledatabase 220 or a remote server), identify the various readinessreduction scores assigned by the user, and assign the scores to thevarious components.

Alternatively or additionally, the scoring module 706 may include aplurality of inspection lookup tables. Each inspection lookup table maybe associated with a particular piece of equipment 124 or other aspectof the fire truck 100. The inspection lookup tables may list a pluralityof potential defects of the associated equipment 124 or other aspect andvarious readiness reduction scores associated with the listed potentialdefects. Thus, upon receiving an input from the user device 132indicating the presence of a particular defect of a particular piece ofequipment 124, the associated lookup table may be accessed to determinethe readiness reduction score for the identified defect. Thus, after acomplete inspection, the scoring module 706 may cause a plurality ofreadiness reduction scores to be generated for various identifieddefects.

Once a plurality of readiness reduction scores have been determined(e.g., associated with the vehicle subsystems 102-110, equipment 124,and various other aspects of the fire truck 100), the scoring module 706may further configure the processor 204 to determine an overallreadiness reduction score for the current state of the fire truck 100.In an exemplary embodiment, the overall readiness reduction score is aweighted combination of the various individual readiness reductionscores assigned to the various aspects of the fire truck 100 discussedabove. Accordingly, the scoring module 706 my include a multi-stepalgorithm for determining the overall readiness reduction score. First,a component readiness reduction score for each individual component ofthe fire truck 100 may be determined. The component readiness reductionscore may include a weighted combination of the readiness reductionscores associated with each fault of a particular component of the firetruck. For example, a vehicle subsystem 102-110 may have multiplefaults: a fault based on the sensor signal captured by an associatedvehicle subsystem controller and a fault based on an inspection of thesubsystem 102-110. As such, the scoring module 706 discussed above mayhave identified various readiness reduction scores for the vehiclesubsystem 102-110. To determine the component readiness reduction score,a weighted average of the readiness reduction scores may be calculated.The weights may be predetermined by various management personnel or themanufacturer of the fire truck 100.

The various component readiness reduction scores may then be combinedusing various additional weights to compute the overall readinessreduction score. In various embodiments, such weights may vary dependingon the particular circumstances of the fire truck 100. For example, theweights assigned to each component readiness reduction score may differdepending on the type of incident that the fire truck 100 is respondingto. To illustrate, a foam system of the fire truck 100 may receive agreater weight if the fire truck 100 is being used to respond to avehicle fire rather than a brush fire (e.g., because foam systems aremore heavily utilized when responding to vehicle fires). Accordingly,the scoring module 206 may include a plurality of weight sets, and theparticular weight set used to compute the overall readiness reductionscore may vary depending on an input provided by the operator or otheruser. For example, upon receiving a call regarding a vehicle fire, acommander at a fire station may provide an input (e.g., via the userdevice 132) to the vehicle management system 120. Upon receipt of theinput, the scoring module 206 may retrieve the most recent reportsgenerated by the subsystem diagnostic module 210, the inventory trackingmodule 212, and the inspection assistance module 216; compute variouscomponent readiness reduction scores; and compute the overall readinessreduction scores using the weights of the scoring module 206 associatedwith vehicle fires. Thus, the commander may utilize the readinessreduction scores to properly assign response vehicles to various typesof incidents.

As shown in FIG. 7, the readiness assessment module 708 further includesa reporting module 708 configured to generate various reports based onthe various readiness reduction scores computed via the methodsdiscussed above. The reporting module 708 may generate various alerts ifany component readiness reduction scores or the overall readinessreduction scores reach various predetermined thresholds. Such alerts maybe formatted to be presented on the display 122 or as webpages viewableon the user device 132. Additionally, the reporting module 708 maygenerate an overall readiness report indicating the various readinessscores computed via the methods discussed above.

In some embodiments, various inputs may be provided to various vehiclesubsystem controllers 112-118 if a readiness reduction score reachesvarious thresholds. For example, if the overall readiness reductionscore reaches a threshold, the engine control system 114 may be placedin an override mode. In such a mode, upon an operator attempting tostart the fire truck 100, the operator may be presented with anun-readiness alert on the display 122. Further, no activation signalsare provided to the engine 104 unless the operator selects an overrideoption on the alert and inputs valid authentication credentials. Thisway, emergency personnel are proactively prevented from using poorlyequipped vehicles.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a flow chart of a process 800 for determiningthe readiness of a response vehicle is shown. Process 800 may beexecuted by, for example, the readiness assessment module 218. Process800 may be executed to provide the results of a readiness scoredetermination to a manager or other personnel remote from the vehicle.For example, a commander may receive readiness reports pertaining tovarious fire trucks 100 associated with a particular station, and maymanage the use of the fire trucks based on the reports.

Process 800 includes retrieving the latest subsystem, inventory, andinspection data (block 802). For example, the subsystem diagnosticmodule 210, the inventory tracking module 212, and the inspectionassistance module 216 may perform the various processes describedthereof to obtain various forms of information regarding the conditionregarding a plurality of aspects of the fire truck 100. This informationmay be stored in the vehicle database 220 and/or a remote server (e.g.,in the form of the various reports discussed above). Accordingly, thelatest of such reports may be retrieved.

Process 800 includes identifying various vehicle and equipmentdeficiencies (block 804). As discussed above, such deficiencies may bedetermined by comparing sensor signals from vehicle subsystemcontrollers 112-118 to various thresholds, receiving inventory listsdetermined by the inventory tracking module 212, and receiving variousinspection inputs from the user device 132.

Process 800 includes determining readiness reduction scores for each ofthe deficiencies identified at 804 (block 806) and computing an overallreadiness reduction score for the fire truck 100 (block 808). Forexample, the processor 204 may access various lookup tables included inthe scoring module 706 of the readiness assessment module 218 toidentify various readiness reduction scores associated with theidentified deficiencies. Additionally, a weighted combination of theidentified readiness reduction scores may be computed to generate theoverall readiness reduction score for the fire truck 100. As discussedabove, the weights used in such a calculation may vary depending on aninput provided to the vehicle management system 120 indicating the typeof incident that the fire truck is to respond to.

Process 800 further includes determining if the overall readinessreduction score is above a threshold (block 810). The readinessassessment module 218 may include a plurality of readiness thresholds,with each threshold being associated with a level of urgency as to truckrepair or replenishment. For example, a first threshold may beassociated with a mild need to repair or provide equipment to the firetruck 100, a second threshold may be associated with a semi-urgent needto repair or provide equipment to the fire truck 100, and a thirdthreshold may be associated with an urgent need to repair or provideequipment to the fire truck 100. If the total readiness reduction scorecalculated at 808 is above any of these thresholds, an un-readinessalert is generated (block 812). The alert may inform various personnel(e.g., the operator via the display 122, a commander via a user device132, etc.) that the fire truck 100 needs improvement. Further, the alertmay identify the particular pieces of equipment 124 or vehiclesubsystems 102-110 having faults.

Process 800 further includes generating a readiness report (block 814).For example, based on the various un-readiness scores computed at blocks806-808, a report may be generated that includes the overall readinessscore of the fire truck as well as the individual component readinessscores. Each component readiness score may vary in color depending onthe relationships of the component readiness scores to variousthresholds. For example, individual components having a readinessreduction score above a threshold may show up as red (indicating a needof repair), while other components found to be without fault may show upas green on the report. The report may be formatted as a webpage andtransmitted via the communications interface to the user device 132(block 816). As such, various emergency response personnel may be madeaware of the readiness of the fire truck 100.

As utilized herein, the terms “approximately,” “about,” “substantially,”and similar terms are intended to have a broad meaning in harmony withthe common and accepted usage by those of ordinary skill in the art towhich the subject matter of this disclosure pertains. It should beunderstood by those of skill in the art who review this disclosure thatthese terms are intended to allow a description of certain featuresdescribed and claimed without restricting the scope of these features tothe precise numerical ranges provided. Accordingly, these terms shouldbe interpreted as indicating that insubstantial or inconsequentialmodifications or alterations of the subject matter described and claimedare considered to be within the scope of the invention as recited in theappended claims.

It should be noted that the terms “exemplary” and “example” as usedherein to describe various embodiments is intended to indicate that suchembodiments are possible examples, representations, and/or illustrationsof possible embodiments (and such term is not intended to connote thatsuch embodiments are necessarily extraordinary or superlative examples).

For purposes of this disclosure, the term “coupled” means the joining oftwo members directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may bestationary in nature (e.g., permanent, etc.) or moveable in nature(e.g., removable, releasable, etc.). Such joining may allow for the flowof electricity, electrical signals, or other types of signals orcommunication between the two members. Such joining may be achieved withthe two members or the two members and any additional intermediatemembers being integrally formed as a single unitary body with oneanother or with the two members or the two members and any additionalintermediate members being attached to one another. Such joining may bepermanent in nature or alternatively may be removable or releasable innature.

References herein to the positions of elements (e.g., “top,” “bottom,”“above,” “below,” “between,” etc.) are merely used to describe theorientation of various elements in the figures. It should be noted thatthe orientation of various elements may differ according to otherexemplary embodiments, and that such variations are intended to beencompassed by the present disclosure.

Also, the term “or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not in itsexclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list ofelements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in thelist. Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, andZ,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood withthe context as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may beeither X, Y, Z, X and Y, X and Z, Y and Z, or X, Y, and Z (i.e., anycombination of X, Y, and Z). Thus, such conjunctive language is notgenerally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at leastone of X, at least one of Y, and at least one of Z to each be present,unless otherwise indicated.

The present disclosure contemplates methods, systems and programproducts on any machine-readable media for accomplishing variousoperations. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implementedusing existing computer processors, or by a special purpose computerprocessor for an appropriate system, incorporated for this or anotherpurpose, or by a hardwired system. Embodiments within the scope of thepresent disclosure include program products comprising machine-readablemedia for carrying or having machine-executable instructions or datastructures stored thereon. Such machine-readable media can be anyavailable media that can be accessed by a general purpose or specialpurpose computer or other machine with a processor. By way of example,such machine-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, CD-ROMor other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or storedesired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions ordata structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose orspecial purpose computer or other machine with a processor. Wheninformation is transferred or provided over a network or anothercommunications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combinationof hardwired or wireless) to a machine, the machine properly views theconnection as a machine-readable medium. Thus, any such connection isproperly termed a machine-readable medium. Combinations of the above arealso included within the scope of machine-readable media.Machine-executable instructions include, for example, instructions anddata which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer,or special purpose processing machines to perform a certain function orgroup of functions.

The construction and arrangements of the systems and methods, as shownin the various exemplary embodiments, are illustrative only. Althoughonly a few embodiments have been described in detail in this disclosure,many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions,structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values ofparameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors,orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novelteachings and advantages of the subject matter described herein. Someelements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple partsor elements. The position of elements may be reversed or otherwisevaried. The nature or number of discrete elements or positions may bealtered or varied. Although the figures may show a specific order ofmethod steps, the order of the steps may differ from what is depicted.Also two or more steps may be performed concurrently or with partialconcurrence. The order or sequence of any process, logical algorithm, ormethod steps may be varied or re-sequenced according to alternativeembodiments. Other substitutions, modifications, changes and omissionsmay also be made in the design, operating conditions and arrangement ofthe various exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope ofthe present invention. All such variations are within the scope of thedisclosure. Likewise, software implementations could be accomplishedwith standard programming techniques with rule based logic and otherlogic to accomplish the various connection steps, processing steps,comparison steps and decision steps. It should be noted that theelements and/or assemblies of the components described herein may beconstructed from any of a wide variety of materials that providesufficient strength or durability, in any of a wide variety of colors,textures, and combinations. Accordingly, all such modifications areintended to be included within the scope of the present inventions.Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be madein the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the preferredand other exemplary embodiments without departing from scope of thepresent disclosure or from the spirit of the appended claim.

1. A vehicle readiness system comprising: a processing circuitconfigured to: receive subsystem diagnostic data regarding a status of asubsystem of a vehicle; receive inventory data regarding an inventory ofequipment present on the vehicle; receive inspection data regarding acondition of an inspection point on the vehicle; determine a readinessscore for the vehicle based on the subsystem diagnostic data, theinventory data, and the inspection data; and transmit a readiness reportbased on the readiness score, the subsystem diagnostic data, theinventory data, and the inspection data to at least one of a displaydevice of the vehicle or a user device separate from the vehicle.
 2. Thevehicle readiness system of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit isconfigured to: compare the readiness score to a threshold; and enter thevehicle into an unready mode that prevents operation of the vehicle inresponse to the readiness score being less than the threshold until atleast one of (i) the readiness score is improved to exceed the thresholdor (ii) valid override credentials are received via the at least one ofthe display device or the user device.
 3. The vehicle readiness systemof claim 1, further comprising a communications interface configured to:receive a connection request including access credentials from the userdevice; and establish a secure connection with the user device inresponse to receiving the connection request.
 4. The vehicle readinesssystem of claim 1, wherein the subsystem diagnostic data is receivedfrom a sensor associated with the subsystem.
 5. The vehicle readinesssystem of claim 4, further comprising the sensor.
 6. The vehiclereadiness system of claim 5, further comprising the vehicle includingthe subsystem.
 7. The vehicle readiness system of claim 6, wherein thesubsystem includes at least one of a transmission, a braking system, alighting system, a generator, a water pump system, a foam system, awater tank, a foam tank, a transmission system, or a tire inflationsystem.
 8. The vehicle readiness system claim 1, wherein the processingcircuit is configured to determine whether a respective piece ofequipment of the inventory of equipment is meant to be stored on thevehicle, and wherein the readiness report provides an indication that itis unnecessary for the respective piece of equipment to be present onthe vehicle if the respective piece of equipment is not meant to bestored on the vehicle.
 9. The vehicle readiness system of claim 1,wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine the readinessscore at least in part based on the inventory of equipment present ofthe vehicle relative to a predetermined inventory list for the vehicle.10. The vehicle readiness system of claim 9, wherein the inventory datais received from at least one of the display device or an audit devicebased on an indication provided to the at least one of the displaydevice or the audit device regarding the inventory of equipment presenton the vehicle, and wherein the audit device is the user device or theaudit device is not the user device.
 11. The vehicle readiness system ofclaim 9, wherein the inventory data is received from a detectorconfigured to receive signals from equipment of the inventory ofequipment present on the vehicle.
 12. The vehicle readiness system ofclaim 11, further comprising the detector.
 13. The vehicle readinesssystem of claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is configured todetermine a current location of a respective piece of equipment of theequipment based on the signal received by the detector.
 14. The vehiclereadiness system of claim 13, wherein the processing circuit isconfigured to determine whether the respective piece of equipment ismisplaced on the vehicle based on the current location of the respectivepiece of equipment and a predetermined location for the respective pieceof equipment, and wherein the readiness report provides an indicationthat the respective piece of equipment is misplaced, the currentlocation of the respective piece of equipment, and the predeterminedlocation for the respective piece of equipment.
 15. The vehiclereadiness system of claim 1, wherein the inspection data is receivedfrom an audit device based on an indication provided to the audit deviceregarding the condition of the inspection point on the vehicle, andwherein the audit device is the user device or the audit device is notthe user device.
 16. The vehicle readiness system of claim 15, furthercomprising a database configured to store an inspection instructiondataset associated with the inspection point, wherein the databasefacilitates accessing the inspection instruction dataset with the auditdevice to provide a user with inspection instructions regardingassessing the inspection point.
 17. A vehicle readiness systemcomprising: a database configured to store an inspection instructiondataset regarding at least one of an inventory of equipment associatedwith a vehicle or an inspection point on the vehicle, wherein thedatabase facilitates accessing the inspection instruction dataset with auser device to provide a user with inspection instructions regardingassessing at least one of the inventory of equipment or a condition ofthe inspection point; and a processing circuit configured to: receivesubsystem diagnostic data regarding a status of a subsystem of thevehicle; receive inspection data from the user device regarding at leastone of equipment present on the vehicle or the condition of theinspection point on the vehicle; determine a readiness score for thevehicle based on the subsystem diagnostic data and the inspection data;and generate a readiness report based on the readiness score, thesubsystem diagnostic data, and the inspection data.
 18. The vehiclereadiness system of claim 17, wherein the inspection data includes aninspection notification signal transmitted by the user device inresponse to an identifier on a piece of equipment of the inventory ofequipment associated with the vehicle being scanned by or entered intothe user device.
 19. A vehicle comprising: a vehicle subsystem includingat least one of a transmission, a braking system, a lighting system, agenerator, a water pump system, a foam system, a water tank, a foamtank, a transmission system, or a tire inflation system; a sensorconfigured to acquire subsystem diagnostic data regarding a status ofthe vehicle subsystem; a detector configured to receive signals fromequipment present on the vehicle; and a processing circuit configuredto: receive the subsystem diagnostic data from the sensor; receiveinventory data from the detector regarding an inventory of the equipmentpresent on the vehicle; determine a readiness score for the vehiclebased on the subsystem diagnostic data and the inventory data; andtransmit a readiness report based on the readiness score, the subsystemdiagnostic data, and the inventory data to at least one of a displaydevice of the vehicle or a user device separate from the vehicle. 20.The vehicle of claim 19, further comprising a database configured tostore an inspection instruction dataset associated with an inspectionpoint on the vehicle, wherein the database facilitates accessing theinspection instruction dataset with an audit device to provide a userwith inspection instructions regarding assessing the inspection point,wherein the audit device is the user device or the audit device is notthe user device, wherein the processing circuit is configured to receiveinspection data from the audit device based on an indication provided tothe audit device regarding a condition of the inspection point on thevehicle, wherein the readiness score is based further on the inspectiondata, and wherein the readiness report is based further on theinspection data.